joe froggers
Author: 
Recipe type: dessert
 
Ingredients
  • ⅓ cup dark rum (don't bother with good quality; it doesn't matter)
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon groung nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup mild molasses (I used dark for a more robust flavor)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
Instructions
  1. Stir rum, water, and salt together in a small bowl to dissolve salt.
  2. Whisk flour and spices in a medium bowl.
  3. Stir the molasses and baking soda together and allow to sit until volume is doubled, about 15 minutes.*
  4. On medium-high speed with an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually add rum mixture. Add flour mixture and molasses mixture alternately in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until stiff, at least 8 hours or up to 3 days. (If you don't chill it, the dough will be too soft to roll out properly.)
  5. Adjust two oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees F.
  6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with half of the dough at a time on a heavily floured surface (this is really sticky dough!), roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness. Handle delicately. Cut out cookies with a 3½-inch cookie cutter, spacing cookies out 1½ inches apart on baking sheets.
  7. Bake until cookies are set and just beginning to crack, about 8 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets on oven shelves halfway through baking.**
  8. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.***
  9. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week. They remain wonderfully chewy and moist. Makes 24 large cookies.
Notes
* Mine didn't quite make the double mark and didn't violently bubble, but my cookies were still great. ** Follow baking time carefully. I baked a little longer on my second tray because I thought the first seemed a little underdone. Not a good idea. First of all, the chewiness of the cookie was lost and it was crunchy. Secondly, the cookies burned easily after 8 minutes of baking. If they seem underdone, let them cool a little more, then assess. Better chewy than burnt and crunchy. *** Use a fresh or cooled baking sheet for each batch for best results. Mini-Joe Froggers (Mini-lily pads) Special tools: 1-inch diameter cookie cutter 1. Follow directions as above for dough and rolling out. 2. Bake at 375 degrees F on upper-middle rack for 4 minutes until tops of cookies are just beginning to crack. 3. Cool cookies completely on baking sheet. Makes dozens of cookies, depending on how large your cutter is. Keep away from little (fat) fingers.
Recipe by story of a kitchen at https://www.storyofakitchen.com/dessert-recipes/joe-froggers/